Saide Current Awareness
15 May 2023

 

Distance Education

  • Online and Distance Education for a Connected World Source: UCL Press This open access volume, edited by the University of London’s Centre for Online and Distance Education, addresses the practice and theory of online and distance education, building on knowledge and expertise developed in the University over some 150 years. The University is currently providing distance transnational education to around 50,000 students in more than 180 countries around the world. Throughout the book, contributors explore important principles and highlight successful practices in areas including course design and pedagogy, online assessment, open education, inclusive practice, and enabling student voice. Case studies illustrate prominent issues and approaches. Together, the chapters offer current and future leaders and practitioners a practical, productive, practice- and theory-informed account of the present and likely future state of online and distance higher education worldwide. 

 

Education: South Africa 

 

  • Government finalising new subjects for schools in South Africa Source: Business Tech The Department of Basic Education says it is still developing the curricula for new subjects – including coding and robotics – as it starts finalising the revision of these for promulgation into the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS).

 

 

  • SA young scientists to compete in US science fair Source: ITWeb A group of six young South African scientists will compete on the global stage at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Texas, in the US. The Regeneron ISEF 2023 is one of the world’s largest pre-college science, technology, engineering and mathematics competitions. It will take place from 14 to 19 May.

 

  • South Africa needs to bring cyber security into school curricula Source:ITWeb South Africa must incorporate cyber security into its school curricula if it is to meet the increasing demand for cyber security skills. So says Jason Jordaan, principal instructor at cyber security training and certification specialist SANS Institute. 

 

Language and Literacies

  • Zulu vs Xhosa: how colonialism used language to divide South Africa’s two biggest ethnic groups Source: The Conversation South Africa has 12 official languages. The two most dominant are isiZulu and isiXhosa. While the Zulu and Xhosa people share a rich common history, they have also found themselves engaged in ethnic conflict and division, notably during urban wars between 1990 and 1994. A new book, Divided by the Word, examines this history – and how colonisers and African interpreters created the two distinct languages, entrenched by apartheid education. Historian Jochen S. Arndt answers some questions about his book.

 

 

 

Open Education and Open Educational Resources

 

  • Understanding Complexities of Clinical Care : a Virtual Reality Experience Source:  eCampusOntario Open Library A virtual reality experience for students to observe the intersection of patients and clinicians with technology in a hospital setting in the Master of Health Informatics Program. Four videos review the following topics: (1) Shift Handover, (2) Patient Assessment, (3) Medication Administration, and (4) Patient Discharge. The videos are compatible with virtual reality headsets, 360 video devices (e.g. smartphone), and 2D video.

 

Post Schooling

  • Intelligent responses needed for artificial intelligence Source: University World News Wits University DVC Ruksana Osman advocates that AI tools should be considered as 'tools that can be harnessed for the benefit of the teaching and learning project and, ultimately, for the advancement of society, always knowing when their usage is essential and when not."  

 

  • Plan to curb gender violence in universities is unveiled Source: University World News  South Africa’s government has unveiled measures it hopes will curb gender-based violence in the country’s universities, writes Mapaballo Borotho for Research Professional News. The plans are a joint effort by the Department of Higher Education and Training’s task team on gender-based violence, and Higher Health, an organisation that works to address health, wellness and developmental challenges in South Africa’s higher education institutions.

 

 

  • Prof Phakeng opens an academics YouTube channel Source: Sunday World Former vice-chancellor of the University of Cape Town and South African professor of mathematics Mamokgethi Phakeng has announced that she has opened her YouTube channel.which will be called Fab Academic- Unfiltered. She said the channel will be interesting and fun as she will be tackling academics, how to get into university, mental health issues, as well as umjolo (relationships).

 

  • MSSA, TUT team up on eSports research Source: ITWeb Non-profit eSports organisation Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is collaborating with Dr Rosa Naudé-Potgieter from the Tshwane University of Technology’s (TUT’s) Department of Tourism Management, to help the eSports body gain better understanding of the local eSports landscape.

 

  • Output in emergency care: PhD programmes should be fixed Source: University World News No studies on doctoral education in African emergency medicine were found between 2011 and 2021. This is likely due to the nascency of the discipline in Africa and resonates with the other barriers to the success of African doctoral programmes.This was the main outcome of a study titled, ‘Emergency medicine doctoral education in Africa: A scoping review of the published literature’, that appeared in the journal BMC Medical Education on 25 April 2023.

 

Skills and Employment 

  • AI is threatening these jobs in South Africa  Source: Business Tech Entry-level administrator roles are most at risk of artificial intelligence (AI) job replacement, says technology company Tech.co. According to Tech.co, a recent Goldman Sachs report predicted that AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs.

 

 

  • SARB invites IT graduates to apply for internship Source: ITWeb The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has opened applications for its 2023 Grow-IT internship programme. According to a statement, Grow-IT is an internship initiative aimed at addressing the current and future skills needs of SARB’s business solutions and technology department in response to departmental strategy and workforce planning. This includes capacity and capability building, as well as succession planning and future talent in the department.

 

 

Teaching and Learning- Local and Global

  • 10 TEACHING AND LEARNING PODCASTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION Source: Every learner Eveywhere Among the millions of podcasts that have been launched in the last several years are a growing number focused on teaching and learning in higher education. They cover a variety of topics including professional development, career advice for faculty, classroom practices, equity practices, data-informed teaching, trends in learning science, and emerging digital learning technologies.

 

 

  • The Effect of Supervision and Instruction on Students’ Use of Retrieval Practice Source: The Learning Scientist While there is clear evidence for the benefits of using retrieval practice as a learning strategy (1), we also know that students may not necessarily chose to use retrieval practice when studying on their own (2). A very recent experiment (3) investigated study choices in university students who were tasked with learning English-Swahili word pairs under different instructions and context conditions. 

 

  • TOP LEARNING THEORIES YOU MUST KNOW Source: ChecknClick  "Are you looking to take your teaching or Instruction Design to the next level? Do you want to learn how to create engaging and practical lessons that genuinely resonate with your learners? Look no further than our comprehensive guide to learning theories. In this series of videos, we will explore some of our time’s most influential and impactful learning theories. We cover everything from the classic ADDIE and Gagne models to more modern approaches like design thinking and discovery-based learning."

 

  • Tackling tough topics in discussion Source: Engineering Professors Council This article should be read by educators at all levels in higher education who wish to integrate ethics into the engineering and design curriculum, or into module design and learning activities. It describes techniques that can help to provide students with opportunities to practise the communication and critical thinking skills that employers are looking for. 

 

Technology Enhanced Learning

  • FUTUREPEDIA The Largest AI Tools Directory, updated daily with currently 2547 tools and 54 categories

 

  • A Generative AI Primer Source: JISC A work-in-progress resource serving  as an introductory primer to AI in education 

 

  • Who’s Afraid of A.I.? Source: Slate Podcast: Whats Next TBD| Tech, Power and The Future The actual risk posed by artificial intelligence today stems from the technology being underregulated and in the hands of the rich and powerful

 

  • Catastrophe / Eucatastrophe Source: OneUsefulThing. The latest blog post by Ethan Mollick who opines that "We have more agency over the future of AI than we think."

 

  • Meet the teachers who think generative AI make learning better Source: MIT Tech Review How AI is transforming the classroom. Surveilling students. Teaching the biliterate brain to read. What we’ve learned from “learning to code.” Plus keyboard obsessions, wildfire resilience, and shroom speak.- all in the May/June MIT Educational Issue

 

 

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